Class 9 Geography Chapter 6 Population Important Questions

Class 9 Social Science Geography Chapter 6 Population important questions and answers cover the major concepts of the chapter. Solving answers of these important questions help students to revise the Chapter most competently. We prepared these questions with PDF as per the latest NCERT book and CBSE syllabus. Practising these questions before the exam will ensure excellent marks in the exam.

Population Class 9 Important Questions and Answers

1. Describe the distribution of the population in India.

Answer: (a) The population of India, as on March 2011, stood at 1,210.6 million. These 1.21 billion people are unevenly distributed over 3.28 million square km.
(b) The population is divided into Very densely population—Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh.
Very sparsely population—Sikkim Lakshadweep, Rajasthan, Arunachal Pradesh.
Moderately population—States like Assam and Peninsular states.
(c) The dense population is due to fertile, flat land and favourable climate. On the other hand, hilly areas or regions with low rainfall do not allow people to settle there.

2. What were the causes of the uneven population in India?

Answer: The population of India is unevenly distributed in India because of the following reasons:
(a) Relief of the land: Where there are mountain s and rugged relief the population is sparse. Flat and fertile land favours the population density.
(b) Climate: Fewer people live in cold climate, in a very hot climate and where it is dry. More people live in areas where the climate is favourable.
(c) In regions where the industrial development is more the population is dense as occupations are more. Moreover, the transport facilities also favour the growth of population.

3. Why is ‘Age Composition’ considered as one of the most basic characteristics of the population? Explain.

Answer: (a) Age composition is considered as the most basic characteristics of population as age influences what a person needs, buys and his capacity to perform.
(b) The number and percentage of a population found within the children, working-age and aged groups are an important factor to determine the society’s social and economic structure.
(c) The age structure in India gives more weight age to aduits-58,7%, aged 6.9% and children-34.4%.

4. What are the relationships between occupational structure and development?

Answer: The percentage of population that is economically active is an important index of development. The distribution of the working population according to the occupations they are engaged in, is referred to as the occupational structure. It reflects the level of development of a country. In case of developed nations, the occupational structure shows that a high proportion of people are engaged in secondary and tertiary activities. Manufacturing industries and services are the main occupations in which their workforce is engaged. The occupational structure of developing countries show that they tend to have a higher proportion of their workforce engaged in primary activities, especially agriculture.

5. Discuss the major components of population growth.
Or
What are the factors causing changes in the size of population? (CBSE 2010)

Answer: There are three main components of population growth – birth rate, death rate and migration. Birth rate is the number of live births per thousand persons in a year. Death rate is the number of deaths per thousand persons in a year.

The difference between birth rate and death rate is known as the natural increase of population. Higher birth rate with low death rate results in a higher rate of population growth. When the birth rate is low and death rate is high the result is a low rate of population growth. Migration is the movement of people across regions and territories. It can be internal (within the country) or international (between the countries). It plays a significant role in changing the composition and distribution of population.

6. What is a census? Why is it important for a country to conduct censuses periodically? 

Answer: A census is an official enumeration of population done periodically. The counting is conducted usually every tenth year. The data collected regarding every aspect of population is then compiled in a book and the whole process is called the census.

The various uses of a census are as follows:
(i) A census provides us information regarding the population of the country.
(ii) It is the most comprehensive source of demographic, social and economic data.
(iii) It provides us information regarding population size and distribution. So it helps in planning the development of various regions.
(iv) The comparison of census reports of various decades helps in identifying the trend of population growth. This helps in resource planning.
(v) The level of economic and social development of a country can be identified from the occupational structure and literacy rates provided in the census.

7. What are the reasons for the decrease in death rate in India after independence?

Answer: The main cause of the rate of growth of Indian population since independence has been the rapid decline in death rate. The main reasons behind this decrease in death rate after independence are as follows.
(i) Better medical facilities and improvement of public health.
(ii) Prevention of infectious diseases with the help of vaccines.
(iii) Controlling of epidemics through health measures and better sanitation.
(iv) Decrease in infant mortality due to family planning and child care programmes.
(v) Extension of hospitals, modern medical practices in treatment of ailments.
(vi) Also, rapid industrialisation and urbanisation since independence have increased the opportunities for livelihood and raised the nutritional level and living standard.

8. What is meant by sex ratio? Give two reasons for low sex ratio in India. (CBSE 2010)

Answer: Sex ratio is defined as the number of females per 1000 males in the population. The sex ratio in India was 933 in 2001. The sex ratio in India is skewed with the number of males exceeding the number of females. It has always remained unfavourable to females.
The main reasons behind this are:
(i) Unequal social treatment.
(ii) Discrimination against girl child.
(iii) Low literacy rates and lack of social awareness.
(iv) Evil effects of early marriage and large number of death during child birth.
(v) Insufficient attention to and care of girls after birth, during adolescent period and during motherhood.
(vi) Poverty of the people leads to preference for male child as they become bread earners. All of the above result in more death among females and affects the sex ratio.

9. Discuss the reasons for very low population in Arunachal Pradesh.

Answer: Arunachal Pradesh, the extreme north-eastern state of India, has very low population of 10.97 lakhs. The state has a population density of only 13 persons per sq. km. Most of the state is hilly and forested. The climate is harsh with low average temperature. Rugged terrain and unfavourable climatic conditions has resulted in sparse population in this state. As a result, the population density of the state is also very low.

10. Discuss why the knowledge about population growth is important?

Answer: The population of a country is its most important resource because they are both the producers and consumers of resources. They are the work force of a country. But at the same time more hands to work also mean more mouths to feed. The development of a country is determined by its population in relation to the available resources. So it is important to know about the population growth of a country. It helps in resource planning. It gives the government an idea about the requirements of health and educational facilities within the country. Economic development of a country is also influenced by population growth. In developed countries population growth is lower, therefore they enjoy a better standard of living. While in developing countries with high population growth, the growing population becomes a burden for the country, affecting physical and social environment.

11. How does migration affect the population of a nation? What are the causes of migration?

Answer: Migration plays a very significant role in changing the composition and distribution of population of a nation. It is an important determinant of population change. It changes the population size of the nations and the areas influenced by it. Immigration (in-migration) increases the population of a nation while emigration (outmigration) decreases the population of a nation.
Migration also affects population composition in terms of age and sex composition.
Migration takes place due to the following reasons:
(a) For better employment opportunities.
(b) For better living conditions, for educational and health facilities.
(c) On account of natural calamities like floods or droughts or epidemics.
(d) Due to war, partition and political unrest.

12. Describe the reasons behind the high density of population in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

Answer: Uttar Pradesh is the most populous state of India and has a population density of 689 persons per sq. km. West Bengal has a high population density of 904 persons per sq. km. The high density of population in these states is on account of the following reasons :

(a) Both the states are located in the Ganga Plains. The Ganga Plains are characterised by flat terrain, fertile soil and abundant supply of water. These conditions are favourable for agriculture and support other means of livelihood as well.

(b) The flat land provides favourable conditions for settlement, for setting up of industries and for improving infrastructure of the region. Work opportunities and better living conditions attract population.

(c) Suitable climate and abundant rainfall.

(d) Location of metro cities like Kolkata in West Bengal and big cities like Lucknow, Agra, Kanpur and Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh.

13. Distinguish between immigration and emigration.

Answer: Migration is the movement of people across regions and territories. When people migrate into a nation from other nations it is known as immigration or in-migration. When people migrate from one nation to other nations it is known as emigration or out-migration. Immigration increases the total population of a nation by adding to the existing population. Emigration decreases the total population of a nation because people move out from the nation. People immigrate to nations having better work opportunities and better living conditions People emigrate from nations in search of better opportunities for survival and livelihood.

14. Why is the health of people a matter of major concern for India? Explain any three reasons.

Answer: Despite considerable achievements, the health situation is a matter of major concern for India:
(i) The per capita calorie consumption is much below the recommended levels.
(ii) Malnutrition affects a large percentage of our population.
(iii) Safe drinking water and basic sanitation amenities are available to only one-third of the rural population.

15. Give any three reasons for the steep rise in the population of India since 1921. 

Answer: After 1921, India’s population has been constantly increasing.

Social causes:
(i) Early marriage of men and women
(ii) lack of literacy, particularly among females
(iii) social and religious superstition and rigidity

Economic causes:
(i) High birth rate and low death rate
(ii) Lack of proper medical facilities and high rate of infant mortality
(iii) Lack of proper family planning techniques.

16. What is migration? What is the impact of internal migration on the population within the nation? 

Answer: Migration is the movement of people across regions and territories. It can be internal (within the country) or international (between the countries). Internal migration does not change the size of the population, but influences the distribution of population within the nation. In India, most internal migrations have been from rural to urban areas.

17. When was National Population Policy implemented? Give its significant features.
Or
What is (NPP) National Population Policy? Why was NPP initiated by the government?
Or
Mention any three significant features of the National Population Policy, 2000.
Or
Mention any three objectives of National Population Policy (NPP) 2000.

Answer: National Population Policy (NPP) was implemented in the year 2000:
The NPP 2000 provides a policy framework for imparting
(i) free and compulsory school education up to 14 years of age
(ii) reducing infant mortality rate to below 30 per 1000 live births
(iii) achieving universal immunisation of children against all vaccine preventable diseases, promoting delayed marriage for girls and making family welfare. In addition, the policy make a serious attention on adolescents population welfare.

18. There are three main processes of change of population. Explain how these processes change the size of population.

Answer: There are three main processes of change of population : Birth rates, Death rates and Migration. Birth rate is the number of live births per thousand persons in a year. It is a major component of population growth.

Death rate is the number of deaths per thousand persons in a year. Migration is the movement of population across regions and territories. It may be internal (within the country) or International (between the countries)

If birth rate is high and death rate is low population will increase. Similarly, if birth rate is low and death rate is high there is slow growth of population. If death rate and birth rate is equal there is a stagnant growth of population.

Migration plays a very significant role in changing the composition and distribution of population. Internal migration does not change the size of the population. It only influences the distribution of population within a nation.

19. Categorize the population of a nation into three broad categories on the basis of age composition and explain it.

Answer: The population of a nation is grouped under three categories:
(i) Children (generally below 15 years). These groups are economically unproductive. They require food, clothing, education and medical care.
(ii) Working Group (15 to 59 years age). They are economically productive and biologically reproductive. These group bears the burden of children and aged group.
(iii) Aged (Above 59 years). This group is by and large unproductive and depends upon the working group.

20. What is meant by Occupational Structure? Explain the Occupational structure of India.

Answer: The distribution of the population according to different types of occupation is referred to as the occupational structure. Occupations are generally classified as primary (agriculture, forestry, fishing, animal husbandry, mining and quarrying), secondary activities which include manufacturing industry, building and construction work etc. and tertiary activities include transport communication, trade and commerce, and services. In India, about 64 percent of the population is engaged only in agriculture. The proportion of population dependent on secondary and tertiary sectors is about 13 and 20 per cent respectively. There has been an occupational shift in India in favour of growing industrialisation and urbanisation.

21. What is dependency ratio? Why is dependency ratio higher in India?

Answer: The ratio of people of dependent age (below 15 years and 60 years) to people of economically active ages (15–59 years) is called dependency ratio. The dependency ratio is higher in India because a larger number of children (34.4 per cent) and aged population (6.9 per cent) are found dependent upon the working population (58.7%). The economically unproductive population needs food, clothing, education and medicare which has to be provided by the working population.

22. Why is the rate of population growth in India declining since 1981? Give any three reasons.

Answer: Since 1981, birth rates in India have started declining gradually resulting in a gradual decline in the rate of population growth. The three reasons are as fallows.
(i) A downward trend of crude birth rate.
(ii) An increase in the mean age at marriage.
(iii) Improvement in the quality of life, particularly education of females in the country.

23. What are the main causes of rapid population growth in India? Explain any three.

Answer: India’s total population has increased from 236 million in 1901 to 361 million in 1951 to 1,028 million (approximately 1.03 billion) as on March 2001. India accounts for 16.7 per cent of the world’s population. India is the second most populous country in the world after China.

(i) Birth rates have always been high in India, which has always been the main factor behind rising population.

(ii) But due to the advent of better medical facilities and public health measures as well as with control of epidemics and infectious diseases with advancement of medical science, there has been a rapid decline in the death rate in India. The fall in the death rate has gone still further since independence because of extension of hospitals and medical facilities, decrease in infant mortality and rise in nutrition level due to better opportunities for livelihood. As natural increase in population is the difference between birth rates and death rates, high birth rates and declining death rates resulted in higher rates of population growth.

(iii) The monsoon climate of India, its rich, fertile river plains supporting high agricultural productivity, its mineral wealth have all supported huge population in India.

24. Describe three methods to show how the population of a nation can be planned.

Answer: The population of a nation can be planned the through the successful controlling of birth rates along with declining death rates.

With the progress of medical science and with spread of public health measures, death rates have fallen. But these advantages should also be utilised to reduce the birth rates because rapidly rising population is a strain on limited resources and leads to social and economic problems.

The main role in planning the nation’s population has been taken up through the family planning programmes and adoption of a National Population Policy. Certain methods can be adopted in this regard :

(a) Motivation programmes to spread the knowledge of family planning through mass media like newspapers, ratio, television, films can help to make people conscious about need of limiting family size.

(b) Making contraception services accessible and affordable to all sections of rural and urban population.

(c) Encouraging delayed marriage and child bearing and strengthening legal measures to prevent child marriage.

25. What is the importance of family planning? Discuss how it can help the country.

Answer: Family planning is a comprehensive and successful method of population planning. Recognising that the planning of families would improve individual health and welfare, the Government of India initiated a comprehensive family planning programme in 1952. The basic aim of family planning was to reduce birth rate through acceptance of a small family size as an ideal family by the people and providing supplies and services for birth control. It is an important population programme for a highly populated country like India. Family planning can help to successfully control the growth rate of population in a country. So, it can help to reduce pressure on our limited natural resources.

The family welfare programme has sought to promote responsible and planned parenthood on a voluntary basis. When the family size is small, people can arrange for the education of their children and for proper health care of family members. Nutrition level and standard of living improves. Health standards and literacy rates of the population improves. The government does not have to take undue burden for arranging health and welfare
programmes.

Problems like poverty, unemployment, malnutrition, shortage of food supply, drinking water, sanitation and housing can be tackled with reduction of population size through family planning.

26. Define the terms, age structure, death rate and birth rate.

Answer: The age structure or age composition of a population refers to the grouping of the population according to the number of people in different age groups in a country. The population within the age group of 0–14 years is called the child population, those within age group 15–59 years is the working population and those above 60 years in age are the aged. A age structure diagram, also called the age sex pyramid or population pyramid, is a graphical illustration that shows the distribution of various age groups in a population with the help of back to back bar graphs representing the age groups.

Death rate is the number of deaths per thousand persons in a year.
Birth rate is the number of live births per thousand persons in a year.
Birth rate and death rate are two main components of population growth and the difference between them gives the natural increase of population in a country.

27. What are the main features of the National Population Policy 2000? 

Answer: The National Population Policy 2000 is a culmination of years of planned efforts to improve the quality of population in India. It is a comprehensive programme including education, health and social improvement of the population.

The National Population Policy provides a policy framework for

(i) reducing infant mortality rate to below 30 per 1000 live births,

(ii) achieving universal immunisation of children against all vaccine preventable diseases,

(iii) imparting free and compulsory school education for children upto 14 years of age,

(iv) promoting delayed marriage and delayed child bearing for girls, and

(v) making family welfare a people-centred programme by encouraging public involvement.

The National Population Policy 2000 also gives emphasis on nutritional requirements and sexual protection of adolescents to maintain their future health.

28. Write a note on the adolescent population of India.
OR
Give one health problem which is common among adolescent girls. Explain the needs of adolescents which the National Population Policy 2000 focuses on. 

Answer: The segment of population within the age group of 10 to 19 years is generally termed as adolescents. They are the would-be adults and are the most important resource of the country for the future. In India one fifth of the total population is the adolescent population. The huge size of adolescent population is a most significant feature of the Indian population because they are the potential workforce.

Nutrition requirements of adolescents are higher than a normal child or adult. But in India, the diet available to adolescents is inadequate and deficient in all nutrients. The condition of adolescent girls is worse. 

29. Why is the study of age composition of population important? Write a brief note.

Answer: The age composition of a population refers to the number of people in different age groups in a country. It is one of the basic characteristics of a population. To a great extent, a person’s age determines his role as a consumer and producer in the economy. As such, the study of age composition of the population is important because the number and percentage of the children, working age and aged people found in the total population are notable determinants of the population’s social and economic structure. The framing of programmes for population policies is influenced by it.

A large section of population in the working age group means greater development and prosperity. They are the economically productive and biologically reproductive section of the population. They shoulder the responsibility for the country’s progress. The percentage of children and the aged affect the dependancy ratio because they are not producers. Their food, clothing, medical care and education (in case of children) have to be provided by the working population. The government also has to spend more on welfare programmes and health care if the percentage of child and aged population is high. The proportion of population in the different age groups affects the level of development of a country.

30. Discuss the factors responsible for distribution of population in India. 

Answer: The distribution of population in India is not uniform. While Uttar Pradesh has a population size of 166 million, the Himalayan state of Sikkim has a population of just 0.5 million. Almost half of India’s population lives in just five states – Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh.

The main factors responsible for uneven distribution of population in India are as follows.

Climate: Areas with favourable climate and high rainfall like the coastal plain and the Northern Plains have a high population density. Heavy monsoon rains brings agricultural prosperity in these areas and support a big density of population. On the other hand, regions with harsh climate like the Himalayan region and the Indian desert have sparse population. Thus, Rajasthan, the largest state in terms of size, has only 5.5 per cent of the total population of India.

Relief: The varied relief features of the vast country has influenced the distribution of population. As such the Northern Plains with flat, fertile terrain and the coastal plains have higher population densities. The peninsular states with hilly, dissected and rocky terrain have moderate densities. While the mountainous region in the north and northeast have sparse population on account of the rugged terrain.

Soil: The fertile alluvial soil of the plains are favourable for agriculture and support large populations. Areas with shallow and less fertile soil have lesser populations.

Mineral wealth: The mining areas of the peninsular plateau attract population. Industrial centres, ports, commercial centres, metro cities have high population densities because of better opportunities of livelihood and greater facilities.

31. Discuss the advantage of having a healthy population.
Answer: 

1. Health is an important component of population composition. The quality of the population depends upon their good health. It affects the process of development.
2. A healthy population is physically strong and mentally active. They are economically more productive and contribute towards the economic prosperity of a country.
3. Healthy people can work hard and earn enough to support their family members. This reduces poverty and raises standard of living of the population.
4. A healthy population is socially more active. they have more thinking and reasoning power, so they can remove social evils and lead to social progress.
5. The government can concentrate on development projects rather than diverting large share of its resources on health care programmes for the sick and diseased people.
6. Thus, healthy population is contribute towards economic, social, cultural and political development of a country.

32. Discuss the advantage of having a higher percentage of young people in a country.

Answer: Young people are the most prized resource for a country. They have the highest work efficiency and comprise a great part of the country’s workforce. They are economically most productive and contribute greatly to the economic development and prosperity of the country. In an agricultural country like India where a large number of agricultural labourers are required, a large young population helps in increasing the productivity of agriculture. They also help in industrial development as they are more active and painstaking. The younger people are more innovative and contribute to the development of new technologies for the advancement of the country. A higher percentage of young people also means social and cultural advancement in the country. The youths are more advanced and have free thinking. They are the ones to campaign against social evils and bring forward social reforms to do away with vices like child marriage, dowry, discrimination against girl child and illiteracy. The young people are biologically most productive. They bring the future human resources to the world. A higher percentage of young people in the country also means healthy population and less expenditure on health programmes.